23 April 2013

Justice - †

A break from the metal - that
is needed at times. Hence for my love of Prince, Frank Zappa, Steve
Wonder and weird electronica. Sometimes I just deserve to have keyboards
playing and making the world a crazier place. For some reason, Europe seems to
be the place that loves to release the best sort of electronica which makes my
heart flutter. Yet sometimes I have bands that I should like, and they
miss the mark on the initial listen. For some reason, when I first heard
'†' or Cross as it is sometimes known it just did nothing for me. So what
has time and a fresh listen done for this album? Has the French duo
finally won a place in my heart or am I not too bothered by the ramblings of
crazy people who are just being silly for their own reasons?

Now when I first heard
Justice it was on a dance mix CD called Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck:Boyz
Noise. Upon hearing it in the local shop I bought the only copy they had
which was the one they were playing. I was not popular but I cared not
one jot - it was fantastic album and the Justice songs that were on the CD were
just amazing. So when I first heard the album I was not as excited as the
original mixes of "D.A.N.C.E." and "Phantom II" just did
not live up to the mixes on the mix album, and because of that I put the album
to the side. Coming back to this record, I can see some really interest ideas.
That bass sound is fat and groovy, the keyboard light and never too
intrusive. The stand out track in "Stress" and opening track
"Genesis" is a fantastic, "Phantom" & "Phantom
II" do work (but I will be honest I prefer the remix mix on Bugged Out! -
it's just better) and the overall album is very well produced.

As usual I try to be balanced with my opinion and here is comes - whilst this
album has improved, there is still some moment that just do not work for me. Anything
that has singing on this album just does not work for me. It just
distracts from the tunes below, also "New Jack" just sounds like a
toy cabinet falling down the stairs. When this band gets it wrong, it
stands out like sore thumb and is frustrating for the listener. So overall
this album is better than my first brush with it, but those other moments just
making it slightly annoying. Hopefully this is all worked out for their
next album which I will be reviewing soon.

Life of Agony can never be accused of taking the easy route, that is something that can be said for them. It could be the fact that the...

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Album scoring system

0 - This is proof there is no deity1 - You're really are touching the bottom of the barrel with this one2 - If only there was some quality control3 - It could have been a bit better4 - Well it's alright, but still......5 -Not for everyone but played well6 - Now I see where you were going, but it's not quite there7 - This is good and well worth a check8 - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and heart9 - Almost perfect....Almost10 - This is proof there is a deity(For albums that are too crazy to be marked)Crazy Cat symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Singles/EP Marking System

0 - Only to be listened to by people bless with the gift of being deaf1 - Not so much on the bad that it is bottom of the barrel, but it can see the stuff down there2 - Not bad, not good - so average it is Zen3 - Decent, getting there4 - This is really good, well worth checking out5 - I wish I had extra ears to love this more(For Singles/EPs that are too crazy to mark)Crazy Cat symbol - This release cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens